The following is just a sample of our alumni's recent accomplishments.
See also our Alumni Blog page for more current news about our alumni and faculty.

Will Braden: Will's student short film Henri was a finalist in the Seattle Times Three Minute Masterpiece contest and was screened with the other finalists at the Seattle International Film Festival.

Eric Castro: Since finishing the Filmmaking Immersive program in '03, Eric moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a gaffer, eventually moving up to B camera operator on productions for the Hallmark and Spike channels. In 2009 he shot a feature, Skyler on the RED camera. He is a member of Local 728 (studio Electricians) and he worked this season on the Showtime series United States of Tara as a gaffer / electrician.

Drew Christie: Drew won the Grand Prize for the Seattle Times Three Minute Masterpiece with his short film How To Bring Democracy to the Fish. The film screened at the 2007 Seattle International film Festival, along with the other contest finalists.

Bruce Henderson: Since graduating from the Seattle Film Institute, Bruce has worked steadily on projects ranging from commercials and promotional videos to in-studio sessions for Pearl Jam, and a variety of independent feature films.

In Bruce's own words:

"The Seattle Film Institute played a vital role in giving me the confidence and skills to pursue a long desired career in the film industry. The excellent faculty shared their in-depth knowledge and real life experiences generously allowing me every opportunity to make my own visions as vibrant and alive as ever imagined. Over the course of 10 months I was given the opportunity to try every crew position I was interested in learning. Upon graduation I was given the extraordinary opportunity to work on "World Enough and Time", a 35mm feature film produced through the school, which truly jump-started my career. I graduated from SFI less than one year ago and I am already earning a living pursuing my dreams. I am currently working in both camera and lighting departments for feature films, shorts, and commercials."

Angelica Hesse: Through the Seattle Film Institute, Angelica got an internship with Filmateria, a Seattle-based production company. Within a couple weeks of Angelica starting work, the woman who hired her relocated to Los Angeles, and Angelica was promoted from intern to producer. Within a month of graduating from the Seattle Film Institute, Angelica was hiring SFI Faculty for professional shoots.

Angelica recently worked in the art department of Zoo, a documentary film which was accepted to both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. Angelica has more recently worked as production coordinator on The Spy and the Sparrow, an independent feature film directed by SFI faculty member Garrett Bennett.

Mark Jones: After graduation, Mark began work on his first feature film, Spree, a screenplay that he wrote while in SFI's 40 Week Immersion Program. Mark's film had its world premiere at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival. The Director of Photography for Spree, CB Shamah, is also an SFI graduate.

Wes Kim has written and directed numerous short films including, the award-winning Profiles in Science and Vision Test. His films have appeared in nearly forty US and international film festivals and have screened in seventeen countries. They've also been broadcast nationally on public and cable television and have been featured in programs at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle. Wes has received filmmaking grants from Artist Trust and 4Culture, and he's been invited to participate in Seattle International Film Festival's Fly Filmmaking Challenge and Northwest Film Forum's Signature Shorts program.

As a film programmer, Wes has directed four editions of Northwest Asian American Film Festival and two seasons of the film series Sneak Films.

Wes has been a grant panelist for the Northwest Film Forum, the City of Seattle Mayor's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and the Center for Asian American Media. He was also a member of the search committee for the appointment of a new director to the City of Seattle Mayor's Office of Film and Music.

Billy McMillin received the Best Documentary Editing award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival for his work on the feature length documentary Iraq in Fragments, which also received an Academy Award nomination for best documentary. He recently was editor on the critical favorite The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle.

Carter Swan was recently hired by Kevin Spacey's company Trigger Street Productions. Carter's duties include producing and directing segments for the company's on-line showcase Trigger Street TV which can be found on TriggerStreet.com.

Semih Tareen's 16mm short film YELLOW has been accepted to this year's Seattle International Film Festival. Shot as a student project at SFI, YELLOW is an homage to giallo, - a genre of Italian horror and crime films from the 1960's and 70's. YELLOW has also been accepted to the Sao Paulo International Short Film festival and the Firstglance Philadelphia Film Festival. More information is available at www.semihtareen.com/yellow.html.

James Whittington: Through SFI, James obtained an internship at Wong Doody advertising. Upon completion of his internship, James was hired to work full time at Wong Doody as Video Production Specialist.